Note-sheet.



E. LESCHBRANDT.

NOTE SHEET.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 17, 1914.

Patented July 27, 1915.

Inventor. .25

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICEQ EINAR LESOI-IBRANDT, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO LAWRENCE MAXWELL, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, RECEIVER OF KBELL AUTO-GRAND PIANO COM- NOTE-SHEET.

Original application filed September 8, 1908, Serial No. 452,903. Original Patent and this application filed July 17, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that ll, EINAR LnscHBRaN m, a subject of the King of Norway, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and useful Note-Sheet, of wl fch the following is a specification.

This in a division of my Patent No. 1,116,345, granted Nov. 3, 191st, on an application filed Sept. 8, 1908, on a pneumatic musical instrument controlled by traveling perforated note sheets.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide an improved note sheet for controlling the operation thereof, having means whereby by the provision of extra perforations in the note sheet and corresponding channels in the tracker with suitable connections therefor, the note sheet can be caused to control the renderin 'of selections, especially the operation of the loud and soft pedals and the tempo, in a most simple and convenient manner; to provide means whereby a partial rewinding and restarting will not upset the arrangement so that all parts of the music roll will be independently selective without changing the standard of either the rollsor the players, so that the sheets can be used on ordinary players not provided with this attachment, and to provide means for promptly controlling the loud and soft pedals in conformity with the harmonic scheme of one or several successiwe chords or measures which are of contrasting harmony and must not run into each other, so as to avoid the tinkling sound peculiar to some kinds of automatic playing.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing which is adiagrammatic view of a portion of a musical instrument showing certain features in section, and the tracker and perforated note sheet in elevation.

The invention is illustrated as applied to an instrument having a tracker 10 provided with the usual note channels 11 and. with two sets of additional channels 12 and 13. There are only two of the channels 12, and they are shown as located at the opposite ends of the line of channels 11 and as projecting in front of them. The channels 13 are interspersed throughout the line of channels 11 and located at one side thereof.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J uly 27, 1915,

No. 1,116,345. Divided Serial No. 851,603.

Their connections will be described hereinafter.

The channels 12 on the right and left respectively are connected with conduits, tubes, or passages 14 and 15 They are in communication with a. selective pneumatic v valve casing 16 which is shown as in the form of a cylindrical tube, and which is provided with two ports in communication with tubes or channels 17 and 18 connected with a pair of pneumatics or bellows 1?) and 20. These pneumatics may be employed for any desired purpose as will readily be understood, but the arrangement is especially suitable for having them operate the loud and soft pedal respectively and therefore they will be so referred to hereinafter. These parts may be placed in any desired or convenient position, the drawing being dia grammatical in this respect.

The music sheet Zl'is provided with two series of perforations 22 and 23 on the right and left side and located either alongside, or instead of, the printed dynamic marks P. F. and MI There is plenty of room for this on an ordinary music sheet as there is now a space of about a quarter of an inch as a margin, and it will be understood, of course, that the perforations 22 and 23 are not ordinarily very close to gether. It may be stated that if a sud den change from loud to soft is desired, it will be accomplished by this instrument by simply having the perforation 22 for actuating the loud pedal followed by a perforation 23 on the other side for actuating the soft pedal or vice versa. But if either is on and" it is desired to return to neutral or MF, two holes 22 and 23 are located in the sheet opposite each other at the point where the change is to be made, and the pedal that is down will be released. The object of this arrangement is to always put on the right pcdahevcn if the roll is partially re-wound in order to repeat a certain part, as often happens or if the operator stops playing and takes it up again.

The construction of the parts in the casing 16 is as follows zl he casing is divided into three compartments by stationar i walls 25 and 26. The first compartment or chamber on the left acts as a valve-casing for a valve 27, which is provided with a passage 28 for connecting eitherof the passages 17 or 18 with an exhaust passage 29 connected with a source of exhaust. When this valve is in the position shown the parts are in neutral position, and both of the pedals are off. When it moves to the left the exhaust 29 is connected with the passage 17, and the loud pedal is on. -At the same time a bleeder passage 30 in the valve is connected with the passage 18 so as to restore it to normal condition. There is a similar passage 30 at the other end for bleeding the passage 17. There are also two bleeder passages 31 through the valve for bleeding both passages 17 and 18, when the valve is'in neutral positionas shown.

The piston or valve 27 is operated by a piston 35 in the compartment. between the two walls 25 and 26. The pistons 27 and 35 are rigidly connected by a rod which passes through the wall 25. The two conduits 14 and 15 communicate with the chambers 36 and 37 respectively. These chambers also are both connected with an exhaust 39 and are readily restored to inexhausted condition after air enters them through the passages 14 and 15.

The third chamber at the right of the wall 26 is provided with two blocks or pistons 40 and 41 held in their normal position by a light spring 42 between them. The chambers at the outer ends of these pistons communicate one through a perforation in the Wall 26 and the other through a passage or tube 44, with the conduits 14 and 15 respectively, so that when air is admitted to either of the latter, the corresponding block will be forced inwardly against the spring. In the figureboth conduits l4 and 15 are open. These blocks are provided with passages, shown as circumferential grooves 45, and when both of the blocks are forced inwardly both grooves communicate with a channel or passage 46, motion of both blocks inwardly being limited by the spring 42. In this position one end of this passage connects with an exhaust passage 47 which is connected with the chamber between the blocks and with a source of air tension, and the other connects through a passage 48 with the compartment between the partitions 25 and 26, so that when the piston 35 is moved over to the right or left, this passage will communicate with the (for the time being) larger of the two chambers 36 and 37. If at the same time that the piston 35 is so thrown to the right or left both the valves 40 and 41 are in the position shown in the figure, this larger chamber will be connected with the exhaust 47.

The operation of the device is as follows:

Starting with the parts in the position shown in the figure. Supposing the music sheet is'in such position that a perforation 22 on the right has just let air into the conduit 14, the chamber 36 will be filled, and on account of the exhaustion of the chamber 37 the piston 35 and valve 27 will move to the left. This will connect the exhaust 29 with the bellows or pneumatic 19, and if that is the loud pedal connection, the loud pedal will then be on. \Vhen this occurs the air coming into the chamber 36 forces the block or piston 40 to the right. This makes one connection in the passage 46, but the other connection is stopped by the block 41 which has not yet moved. The loud pedal will be held down even thoughthe perforation 22 shall have passed off the tracker hole 12, because the tension in chambers 36 and 37 is the same. Now if it is desired to restore the parts to normal position, two perforations 3o 22 and 23 are located in the sheet in positio to come over the corresponding tracker: channels at the same time, and then air will be admitted through both the conduits 14; and 15 at the same time. The first effect of 35 this is to move the block 41 to the left to the position shown. This connects the passage 46 with the exhaust 47, and although the conduits 14 and 15 are open momentarily by the perforations 22 and 23 they are closed immediately as the note sheet passes on, and the exhaust being greater in the chamber 36 than it is in the chamber 37, the piston will move to the right until it closes the port 48, and things will then be restored to the position shown.

It has been stated that the tracker is provided with additional channels 13. In the form shown in the drawings there are nine of these which in the form chosen for illustration, represent the nine tempos as follows :5O largo, 50 adagio, 50 andante, 50 andantino, 50 moderate, 50 allegro moderato, 5O allegretto, 50 allegro, 50 presto. It will be understood that while these nine stages are generally sufficient for all tempo changes, even the minor ones, the number can be extended or reduced if desired, the: principle remaining the same. I have found" in practice that small variations in time as selections are played are complete but momentary changes from one tempo to another below or above the mean tempo, and I have experimentally found that the same effect is obtainable by working the lever in such a manner as to produce changes of this scope so that a perfect ritardando or accellerando is obtained by a successive change to the nearest station, the length of the same being nicely graded by the shorter or longer time between the stations and in the same way here the length of the time will be nicely graded by the variation of distance between the perforations 52 in the note sheet. The working principle of this part of the device is as follows :-The air is exhausted from a double cylinder 53 54 through a connection 55 which is in communication with a source of air tension. This exhausts air from both sides of a piston 56, and it also exhausts air 130 from both sides of a piston 57 in the smaller cylinder, as the space on the right of the smaller piston is shown as being in direct communication with the space on the left of the larger piston, and the outer spaces of the two cylinders communicate through a passage 58. When all the nine holes 13 in the tracker are closed by the paper of the music roll, as they normally are, the degree of exhaustion on both sides of each of the pistons is equal. This is also the case if all the passages are open.

Now referring to the music roll shown in the drawing, if the tempo of the piece is allegro moderato, for example, one of the holes 5 2 is cut in the paper in the beginning of the piece, in advance of all the note perforations, where now is usually printed only the tempo ark. This is located where it will strike t e proper channel in the tracker, in this fixedly connected with the piston 56 by a rod 61, to the proper tempo for that particular piece. The rod 61 is continued and as will be readily understood,'it operates the valve controlling the motor which is not shown herein, as it is well understood. The drawing shows the pistons and pointer in the position above indicated. Following the roll further down it will be seen that the next perforation 52 occurring is the first stage of a ritardando, and it is located in such position as to open the tracker channel 13 over the conduit 50 (moderato). It will be understood, of course, that after the first perforation 52 in the paper has opened one passage and set the tempo, the paper then passes on and closes the same. The opening of the next channel has the following effect. The air enters the tube 54 at the left of the piston 57 through the conduit 50 and fills the smaller chamber to the left of the piston, and also through the passage or channel 58 it fills the large chamber to the right of the iston 56. The latter piston being much arger than the former, the power is on the latter to push both pistons to the left, and they will continue to move to the left until piston 57 covers the open end of the conduit 50 when there will be equilibrium on both sides. of the piston, and there will be no force to move them in either direction. The next stage in the ritardando is andantino, and another perforation 52 is consequently placed in the paper to come over the channel 13 so as to open the conduit 50 and the operation is repeated, carrying thepistons one more step to the left and having a corresponding effect on the pointer and the motor valve. This particular music sheet is shown with another perforation in position to open the conduit 50, the result of which now will be readily understood. The next perforation 52 on the music roll is back on the tempo line and will bring the pistons back in the other direction to their original position. The next thing on this particular music sheet is the sustaining mark, which result is brought about by putting the perforation in the paper so as to place the indicator suddenly on largo, the air coming in through the conduit 50, or if desired a tenth stage might be added, which in value of tempo might answer to something slower than largo, it being understood that a sustain must not be an entire shut-off of air to the motor, since then it could not start up again without help, but it must provide just enough air to keep it going at the lowest possible speed. Then when the sustain is supposed to end, the motor will again bring the paper into action as will readily be understood by the provision of another perforation 52 on the tempo line. It will be seen that this kind of a controller will work promptly, in response to the air impulse admitted through the perforations in the paper roll. In order to get small variations of tempo like the metro-style line, it is necessary only to have additional tracker channels 13 opening alternately above or below i mean tempo, and vary the occurrence of the perforations of the music sheet according to the necessity of the case. It will be understood, of course, that the tempo controller can be coupled directly with any ordinary form of indicator, and that the usual tempo lever in front may still be used so that a person who desires may at any time change the tempo to suit his own fancy. Since the hand is much stronger than the power of the air in the cylinder, this can be done without adjusting or uncoupling any of the parts, and without interfering with the proper action of the same when the operator releases the lever. Moreover, it will be understood that if the roll is partially rewound while playing and starting again at another place, the tempo controller will work automatically to set the proper tempo of that part, so that rewinding does not upset the arrangement.

It will be observed that the channels 13 are long and narrow, constituting a slit. They are shown narrow because they come between the note channels and they must not overlap them. They are made long in order to make up for their narr'owness. The provision of these perforations does not materially weaken the tracker or note sheet since a tempo change does not need to occur while a key is down, and there is a plenty of room for the perforations except where two adjacent keys are to be down at the same time, but as this constitutes a bad discord, it occurs very rarely in music, and even when it does the chances of the tempo change appearing at that point are very small. 'It

will be understood of course that the same principles may be adopted for regulating other features of the instrument than the tempo, but it is thought that it will be un necessary to describe any other connections as the controlling device above is what is shown in the drawings.

lVhile I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. as expressed in the claims. Therefore I do not wish to be limited to all the details of construction shown or to the particular utility of the device which is described in detail in the specification, but

What I do claim isz- 1. 'As an article of manufacture,v a perfo rated music sheet having a number of ion gitudinal rows of note perforations, a plurality of longitudinal rows of perforations each representing the tempo in a definite different degree arranged between the longitudinal rows of note perforations. and a perforation at the forward end of the sheet in advance of all the note perforations and one of rows of tempo perforations, re:- resenting its transverse location the tempo of the selection.

2. As an article of manufacture, a perforated music sheet having a plurality of note perforations arranged in longitudinal rows and having rows of perforations arranged in longitudinal rows each of the last named perforations being located adjacent to a transverse line through a note perforation at which the tempo of the composition is to be changed.

3. As an article of manufacture, a music sheethaving longitudinal rows of note perforations, and longitudinal rows of perfoia tions for changing the tempo interspersed between the rows of note perforations and each located substantially in transverse alinement with a note perforation at which the tempo changes the spaces in longitudinal alinement with said tempo perforations at which there is no change in the tempo being free from tempo perforations.

4. As an article of manufacture, a music sheet having longitudinal rows of note perforations, and a series of longitudinal rows of tempo perforations interspersed between the rows of note perforations across the sheet and each located substantially in transverse alinement with a note perforation at which the tempo changes, and a perforation in longitudinal alinement with one row of said tempo perforations and located at the forward end of the sheet in advance of all the note'perforations, to set the tempo of the composition.

5. As an article of manufacture, a music sheet having longitudinal rows of note perforations, longitudinal rows of tempo perforations interspersed between the rows of note perforations and each located substantially in transverse alinement with a note perforation at which the tempo changes, and a series of perforations at each side in the margin, those on one side being located in transverse alinement with the positions of the symbols (.P) indicating the soft pedal and those on the other with the symbol (F) indicating the loud pedal, one being located on each side. in transverse alinement, at any point at which it is desired to return to neutral.

('3. As an article of manui'iacture, a per forated music sheet having a number of longitudinal rows of note perforations, a plurality of longitudinal rows of perforations representing the tempo arranged between the longitudinal rows of note perforations, a perforation at the forward end of the sheet in advance of all the note perforations and one of said rows of tempo perforations, representing the tempo of selection, and two longitudinal rows of perforations, one row representing the soft pcdal and the other the loud pedal, two of said perforations being in positions on the sheet at which the loudness of tone of the composition is to be changed.

7. As an article of manufacture, a music sheet having note perforations, tempo perforations, and a series of perforations at each side in the margin, those on one side being located in transverse alinemcnt with the positions of the symbols (P) indicating the soft pedal and those on the other with the symbol (F) indicating the loud pedal, one being located on one side, in transverse alinement, at any point at which it is desired to return to neutral.

8. As an article of manufacture, a perforated music sheet having note perforations, perforations representing the tempo, aperforation at the forward end of the sheet in advance of all the note perforations and one of said rows of tempo perforations, representing the tempo of the selection, and two longitudinal rows of perforations, one row representing the soft pedal and the otherthe loud pedal, two of'said perforations beingin position on the sheet at which the loudness of tone of the composition is to be changed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EINAR LEbCHBRANDT. Witnesses:

D. FRIEDMAN, A. BERKOVITZ. 

